Plymouth senior forward Justin Wojcik, who was one of the Wildcats’ most dangerous players in the contest, said “it would have been interesting if we had overtime.”

Strong goalkeeping, by Salem senior Buraq Oral and the Plymouth tandem of senior Ryan Schmatz (first half) and junior Jack Reed (second half) were solid and at times spectacular.

With about 18 minutes to play in the contest, Reed and his defense warded off a dangerous Salem attack that came off a corner kick taken by sophomore Andrew Schwartz. The ball kicked around the box and came within inches of crossing the goal line.

“We definitely had our chances, we had a lot of shots from outside the 18 that were dangerous, had some rebounds,” Karns said. “We were certainly dangerous, we had our chances. But it’s unfortunate when you just come away with zeros on the board.”

Plymouth head coach Jeff Neschich called it an “epic battle” that again showed the strong work ethic of his team, now 2-1-4.

“I thought our defense was stellar out there,” Neschich said. “I thought we just needed to be a little more creative in the attacking third and it’s our game. But tough team, it’s always a battle, cross-campus rivalry.”

Shields is getting additional minutes and responsibilities following the season-ending knee injury suffered last week by senior Gabe Dillon.

“We know they’re a really good team and they have a fast pace, so we had to try to keep up with that pace,” Shields said. “At the start we didn’t do that, but later in the game we caught up and started playing our game, playing our speed.

“I think we did well doing that, that’s why the score stayed 0-0. If we would have played that same way at the start, we probably would have come out with a dub.”

Shadow time

“I played club with him for a while, so kind of had a joke, make him go left,” Bowser said. “But really it’s not letting him turn and run at you. Because once he’s running at you he’s hard to bring down, he’s a big body and physical.”

Going to work

Bowser added that the scoreless tie against the Rocks provided another example of how hard the Wildcats compete.

“I think we definitely can work hard,” Bowser said. “In the game against Portage it was physical, we had to work all 80 minutes and even today, to keep it 0-0, trying to get that goal, trying to prevent the goal. I just love the team’s work ethic and that’s what I’ve seen most out of this group.”

Not too early

Even though the 2018-19 school year hasn’t officially begun, both teams weren’t buying the notion that it was too early on the calendar for a bonafide Park rivalry game.

I’d like to think at this point, these boys know that you shouldn’t have to be told to get up for these types of games. It’s a rivalry game, there’s a lot of history between all the schools.

“You shouldn’t have to be told to get up for it whether you’re in school or not,” Karns said. “These boys know each other from playing club and being in class together.”

Almost there

Both teams have Thursday games before the Labor Day break; Salem faces Howell while Plymouth takes on Northville.

Karns said his team is close to reaching it’s first team goal of the season.

“We kind of had it set as a goal to get to Labor Day undefeated,” Karns noted. “So we have Thursday’s game against Howell, so we still have a shot at that.”

If you have a compelling story to tell, contact Tim Smith at tsmith@hometownlife.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimSmith_Sports.